The Commuter (2018)

Former New York cop Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) has taken the same daily train in and out of the city, morning and evening, for 10 years. On the day he loses his insurance job, he is approached by a stranger (Vera Farmiga), who recruits him to commit a crime in exchange for money. 

This is a taut action thriller directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also made 2014’s Non-Stop. In fact, it’s quite similar in many ways: Neeson confined to a speeding vehicle while needing to solve a mystery to save his own life – and the lives of others. 

It’s both silly and exciting, and it keeps you guessing to the end. Sam Neill is underused as a police chief, and Elizabeth McGovern is underused as MacCauley’s wife.

 Neeson looks really old. He was about 65 at the time, and seems increasingly unlikely as an action hero by this point. But he does have charisma and there’s something compelling about watching him yet again work his way out of a fix.

Wimbledon (2004)

Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) is a British tennis player on the way down. Then he meets and falls for up-and-coming American Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) and suddenly his game improves. But Lizzie’s father (Sam Neill) doesn’t want her focus changed, so tries to put a stop to the affair. 

This is a surprisingly entertaining film, with some funny lines. Bettany and Dunst have real chemistry. It’s also quite exciting and dramatic in terms of the tennis itself – even though I don’t much care for the sport. As Colt moves up through the tournament it actually gets quite exciting. I like the way we “hear” his thoughts – all his self-doubts and hopes mixed up in a chaotic interior monologue. It’s also nice to see former champions John McEnroe and Chris Evert playing themselves as commentators, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is likeable as Colt’s friend Dieter. 

On the downside, the thread regarding Colt’s parents (whose failing marriage is rekindled by their son’s changing fortunes) isn’t really necessary and his mum and dad (Eleanor Bron and Bernard Hill) seem silly and oddly unconvincing. 

But overall it’s a charming story, excellently told.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

John Carpenter's clever, funny adaptation of the excellent novel by H.F. Saint is a real treat. Chevy Chase plays a man accidentally turned invisible by an accident in a scientific research institute. Instead of wanting to help him, the people responsible attempt to capture and exploit him for his unusual condition.

Some of the “invisible” scenes are ingenious, such as when the invisible man holds a gun against the head of the villain (played by Sam Neill). You see Neill dragged across a room with the weapon apparently stuck to his head.

Daryl Hannah offers an above-par performance as the girlfriend, seeming more engaged than she usually does. 

The film received generally poor reviews but I can’t understand why. It’s hugely entertaining. Maybe people didn’t like the fact that it so effortlessly crosses and combines genres (crime thriller, romance, sci-fi, comedy). That sort of freedom doesn’t seem to be encouraged: maybe films can’t be marketed as easily if they evade a simplistic genre categorisation. But it makes for something very refreshing to watch.

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Epic weepie. When Grace (a teenage Scarlett Johansson) and her horse Pilgrim are badly injured in a riding accident, Grace’s mother Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas) drives them across America from New York to Montana to meet the gifted cowboy Tom Booker (Robert Redford). Magic ensues as the animal, Grace and Annie are all touched in different ways by Tom’s special healing qualities.

It’s a long, slow-burner at 170 minutes but it needs to be because it’s partly about the adjustment to a slower, more relaxed way of life. There’s an urban vs. rural thing going on, as well as a simple love story. Does Annie want to give up her hectic city life with the husband (Sam Neill) she’s not sure she loves? Or does she want to hook up with the country cowboy whose “whispering” has had such powerful effects on her and her daughter?

If there’s a criticism, it’s that Robert Redford – director as well as star – idealises himself in the role. He’s too good to be true: a super-sensitive genius with horses, but also wonderful with kids. He likes classical music and he’s full of wisdom. And despite being outdoors all day while working with animals, his jeans never get muddy. It’s very telling that the plot of the film deviates from that of the source novel, which offers a more complex set of events. If he could have allowed himself just one character flaw (short temper/heavy drinker, etc), he would have been so much more believable. Instead, he’s somewhat sanitised along with the plot.

Kristin Scott Thomas is intended to be unappealingly uptight and she succeeds a little too well in that, being downright unbearable for the first half of the story.

Overall, it’s worth watching for the huge landscapes and the gradual unfolding of several sets of relationships. I felt engaged, but not particularly moved.